[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyun-ah ] Naver (NAVER(035420)) and Kakao(035720), which have led South Korea’s internet industry, are making different choices as they face a massive industrial transformation driven by AI and digital finance.

Naver has set out to secure global AI infrastructure and a Web3 financial ecosystem, even at the cost of diluting its founder’s stake. In contrast, Kakao—despite its strong corporate governance—faces the challenge of restoring market confidence and devising new growth strategies amid a complex crisis marked by slowing growth momentum and falling stock prices.

Naver’s recently announced 1.46 trillion won third-party private placement targeting NVIDIA and its push for a comprehensive stock swap between Naver Financial and Dunamu are not merely investments or business mergers.

These two decisions convey a single, common message: “Growing the future value of the company as a whole is more important than the founder’s stake.” Founder Lee Hae-jin has chosen to expand the ecosystem rather than defend his stake.

The size of Naver as a company is more important than a 3.91% stake

The $1 billion (approximately 1.46 trillion won) capital increase for Daesang will increase Naver’s total number of issued shares by approximately 7.24 million.

As a result, Naver founder Lee Hae-jin’s stake is expected to decline from the current approximately 3.91% to around 3.8%.

Meanwhile, through this investment, NVIDIA will secure a 4.5% stake in Naver, becoming the third-largest shareholder after the National Pension Service and BlackRock.

This is not merely a financial investment. It signifies a strategic alliance in which the world’s largest AI semiconductor company is directly participating in Naver’s AI infrastructure strategy.

In the past, a founder’s stake was the benchmark for influence and management control. Maintaining that stake was seen as the way to protect the company.

However, the formula for competition in the AI era is changing.

A company’s future value is determined not by how many shares the founder holds, but by how robust its technology and infrastructure are and what kind of ecosystem it builds with global partners.

Founder Lee Hae-jin chose not to prioritize preserving his personal stake, but rather to grow the overall value of Naver.

From the Naver Platform to an AI and Digital Ecosystem Company

Naver’s strategic shift is also evident in changes to its business structure.

Naver’s consolidated revenue for 2025 is approximately 12.035 trillion won.

By business segment, the breakdown is as follows: Search Platform 34.6%, Commerce 30.6%, Content 15.8%, Fintech 14.1%, and Enterprise 4.9%.

Currently, Naver’s growth is centered on search advertising and its commerce platform.

However, as the expansion of AI infrastructure, the strengthening of competitiveness in super-large AI models, and the expansion of enterprise AI services gain momentum, Naver has the potential to evolve beyond a platform company with search and shopping data into a digital infrastructure company providing AI computing and data services.

The merger with Dunamu also aligns with this direction.

This does not mean that Naver is becoming a financial institution; rather, it is a platform expansion strategy that extends beyond existing fintech to connect with the digital asset, blockchain, and Web3 financial ecosystems.

NVIDIA and Dunamu… The AI Brain and the Digital Financial Arteries

The essence of NVIDIA’s investment goes beyond mere capital raising.

By combining Brookfield’s AI infrastructure investment, NVIDIA’s GPU supply, and Naver’s AI model and service capabilities, Naver will secure a foundation to participate in the global AI infrastructure competition.

If NVIDIA provides the “brain” of the AI era, Namuga Co.,Ltd can serve as the “blood vessels” connecting the new financial flows of the digital economy era.

If AI is the foundation for creating new services based on data, digital finance is the domain that builds a new ecosystem of value transfer and transactions on top of it.

What Naver aims to build is not merely a platform expansion, but a new digital economic ecosystem that combines AI and finance.

Same R&D Investment, Different Choices for the Future

What is interesting is that both Naver and Kakao are continuing to invest heavily in technology.

As of the end of March this year, Naver’s R&D expenditure as a percentage of revenue stood at 18.6%, while Kakao’s was 17.1%. Compared to the 1–2% R&D investment typical of telecommunications companies or IT service firms, both companies are making substantial investments as technology firms.

The difference between the two companies isn’t how much money they spend on technology. It lies in how they link that investment to their future strategies and ecosystems.

Kakao, with a 24% Stake, Must Now Prove Its Control Is a Growth Strategy

At this juncture, the choices made by the two founders stand in contrast.

Kim Beom-su, the founder of Kakao, holds a friendly stake of approximately 24%, including his personal shares and those held by related parties such as K-Cube Holdings.

A strong governance structure has the advantage of enabling rapid decision-making. However, if that power fails to translate into new growth strategies, controlling interest can become a burden rather than a competitive advantage.

Kakao faces challenges such as labor-management conflicts, a lack of new growth drivers, and declining market trust.

At this critical juncture of AI transformation, the key test for Kakao is how it will translate its platform competitiveness and technology investments into a growth strategy.

For that 24% figure to hold meaning, Kakao must now demonstrate its influence through a new growth vision and the ability to execute it.

What the market wants is not the governance structure itself, but the future value that this dominance will create.

A Founder’s True Power Lies Not in Shareholding Percentage

In the AI era, a founder’s true influence does not stem from mere shareholdings.

What matters is what direction they can chart in times of crisis and with whom they can partner to create a new ecosystem.

Founder Lee Hae-jin, with a stake in the 3% range, has brought NVIDIA on board as a strategic partner and is building a new growth engine together with Dunamu.

In contrast, Founder Kim Beom-soo, backed by a strong 24% controlling stake, is at a critical juncture where he must present a vision for the future that will put Kakao back on a growth trajectory.

In the AI era, the power of a founder will be determined not by the size of their stake, but by how effectively they can design and execute a future ecosystem.